No Junk Challenge blog hop

It’s day one of the Organix No Junk Challenge and I’m entering the blog hop challenge with my own recipe that’s suitable for the whole family to eat.

I’ve been doing this particular recipe since sproglet #1 was a baby, and it’s still a winner. It’s a variation on an Annabel Karmel recipe (in other words, I’ve simplified it!) and is perfect for eating fresh or freezing in bulk.

What I love about it is that you can use up various leftovers or change ingredients along the way.

So here are my turkey meatballs! High in protein and low in fat, they work well as a lunch or a dinner.

Turkey meatballs

Ingredients

Makes around 9-12 meatballs, depending on size

500g turkey mince

small slab of unsalted butter (15g or so)

2 wholemeal brown bread slices (breadcrumbs)

dried apricots (or raisins)

1 apple (grated)

any veg you like: mushrooms, sweetcorn, peppers…

half a small onion (or spring onion)

cheddar cheese or Parmesan (as much as you want, or around 50g)

mixed herbs – I tend to use thyme and parsley, but you can also use coriander. You can use salt and pepper if you want, but I tend not to suit the little ones.

How to make them:

Finely chop the onion and fry in the butter (or oil) then add the veg and grated apple.

Take it off the heat and add the breadcrumbs. Use a cheese grater to make them into breadcrumbs if you don’t have a blender to hand.

Add the mince, cheese, herbs and apricots.

Mould into meatballs.

If you have time you can refrigerate them, but hey, who has time these days – get them into a preheated oven at heat of 180/200 for around 20 mins or until cooked through.

Serve with potato wedges, cous cous, on pasta with a tomato sauce, or in flatbreads with avocado and salsa. Bon appetit!